Home
by DieselFire
Summary: Mikaela Toretto has grown up believing she was an orphan, thinking that her only family was Mia—her father’s sister Vince and Leon, friends of her father’s. What truths are exposed when the feds start looking for Dom and Letty again? What fallout will r
1. Prologue: The Way Things Are

Prologue:

Growing up, the only family I knew was Mia, Vince, Leon, Edwin and Hector. As far as I knew, I was a life-long orphan. Vince and Leon had gone legitimate with the garage but they'd sold the grocery store. I was a waitress at _El Gato Negro_ and Mia was in med school; I also worked whenever I could at the garage. I'd graduated high school early but Mia was determined to see that I made something of my self so when I wasn't at Hector's or at the garage, I was in classes at the community college.

As far as I'd known, I'd been orphaned when my mom died after I was born; my dad was supposedly already dead. When I was nine, Mia and Vince got married; they'd been together for as long as I could remember. Then they'd adopted me under Vince's name—Del Amico—six months later. Now, at the age of seventeen, I was the oldest of three children—Whitney, 7, and Xander, 14.


	2. Ch 1: Race Wars or BUST!

Chapter One:

The garage was empty the afternoon that the first fed came around. It had been the quietest place I could think of.

"We're closed, man. Read the sign." I said when he walked into the office.

"What do you know about Dominic Toretto and his girl, Letty?"

"Never heard of either of them; even if I knew who they were, I wouldn't tell you. Loyalty means something to me; obviously more than it does to you. Get lost before someone sees you here."

"You know, I find it hard to believe that you've never heard of Toretto since you look like him."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about, man. GET. OUT. NOW!" My blood was boiling. If I didn't know who my parents were, who was this guy to play games with me? Before I left, the agent left a photo of the people he was looking for with me.

Half an hour later, I arrived back at the house to find that Vince was the only one home—Xander and Whitney were with Mia. I found Vince in the den

"I got a visit from a fed out at the garage today. Looking for some guy named Toretto; him and his girlfriend, Letty." He looked up when I mentioned the name of the girl. "Left this, too; said I looked like them, but I can't see it."

"Don't worry about it, Mikaela. Just let Mia and I handle it."

"I just feel like I've seen this guy somewhere before. I know I've seen this Letty chick talkin' to Mia before; like during Race Wars a few years back or something."

"Kaela, just let Mia and I handle it, alright? Everything will be fine."

"We still going to the desert this weekend, V?" A silent nod was his only response. "When is Mia supposed to be getting in?" He didn't respond. I got my guitar from my room and sat out on the porch. I didn't hear Leon's car arrive.

"What crawled up your ass?" I flipped him the bird before responding.

"The feds were sniffin' around the garage again today….looking for some freak show named Toretto and his girlfriend. And then the prick had the nerve to say that I look like them… feeling like getting your ass handed to you one last time before race wars?"

"No."

"You suck, Cardellini."

"You're the only female that's ever said that about me."

"I'm also one of the few women in this city that you haven't fucked and thrown out the next morning."

"Aren't you supposed to be working at Hector's tonight?"

"No…he closed up early for Race Wars this weekend…not that it'd help his hunk of shit much…"

Later that night I heard Vince, Mia and Leon arguing about something. I assumed it was about the visit that the FBI paid to the garage that afternoon.

"If she stays behind, she'll know something's up; that we're tryin' to hide something from her."

"The whole point of _us_ raising her was to protect her from the FBI. If they thought she was just some stray they wouldn't look twice at her if they saw her with us." Mia said.

"Yeah, and we've done a fan-fucking-tastic job of it so far haven't we? The cops still think we know where your idiot brother is after seventeen years and now they're moving in on Mikaela." Leon bit back. I knew Mia had flinched; if I'd been the one Leon was yelling at like that, I'd have flinched too.

"The most she knows about her parents is that they used to race. She doesn't know anything else so the feds won't get anything they can use out of her anyway."

"But that doesn't mean she'll be safe in the desert, even if there are thousands of people around."

"She'd be in more danger if we just left her here alone than if we took her with us. Too many witnesses even if they wanted to try and pull something." I couldn't stand it anymore. I pushed through the door.

"I've been going to every Race Wars for as long as I can remember, but as soon as some tight-ass with a badge comes around, it's like I'm an instant celebrity. I'm one of the best mechanics you've got, Vincent. I'm going to Race wars; end of story."

I had no idea what I'd gotten myself into in the past three minutes; I just knew I had to be able to handle it.


	3. Ch 2: 22 Catches & 20 Questions

Chapter Two:

We left Los Angeles at 5.30 on Thursday afternoon for the desert and arrived around 10.45 that night.

I was awakened the next morning before the sun was all the way up by an ungodly laughter. Upon further inspection, I found that it was coming from Mia's trailer…she'd been alone when I'd gone to bed at half past midnight hours earlier…why wasn't she alone now? I didn't bother with knocking since I'd already seen Vince that morning.

"What the hell's got you trying to raise the dead at 7.30 in the morning, Mia?" I had obviously missed something when I'd entered.

"Mikaela, honey, Leon's looking for you." She said, her eyes moving between me and something behind me.

"What's goin on here, Mom?" I asked, already irritated by a rude awakening that morning. "I heard someone laughing…someone I didn't recognize.

"Oh, that? That was a friend of mine…an old friend." She seemed to relax when this 'friend' of hers emerged. "Kaela, sweets, this…." I cut her off.

"So you're the one with the death wish? You should know better than to wake a Del Amico before the sun's all the way up." I took the coffee from her hand in a callous manner. "Banshee."

"I have a name, ya know."

"I really don't care, ya know." I shot back. "By the looks of it, you're another race skank. I'm surprised at you, Mia."

"My name…" I cut her off again.

"I didn't ask you your name. Keep your shrieking down and you might get to keep your car if you're lucky." I put the untouched coffee down on the counter and left.

I found Leon and Xander going over the engines. I got to Vince's car and wanted to smash one of his windows in.

"Xander, where's Dad?" X pointed towards the trailer across from Mia's. "Le, where are the spare parts?"

"In the parts trailer, just like always." I got to the trailer and nearly tore the door off its hinges.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything here. You fried your piston rings; I'm gonna have to replace the titanium valve springs along with the ball bearing turbos since you stripped those whenever you did this. You'll be lucky if I'm done by Sunday…gimme your keys."

An hour later, I was halfway through stripping the piston rings when I felt a pair of eyes on me and looked up to see the man from V's trailer watching me.

"If you're gonna stare at me like that you might just wanna take a picture; it'll last longer and keep you from getting your ass kicked by a girl."

"From what I've heard about you today, you could be anything you want and yet you're here, with a bunch of street racers and mechanics."

"That's the price I paid for being an orphan raised by my aunt and her racer/mechanic hubby." I answered as I continued prying the piston rings from their places.

"What do you know about your parents?" he asked.

"Who says I know squat about them other than that they used to race and they've either gone underground or they got themselves killed." I said pulling the final piston ring from the car. "What's it to you, anyway?"

"Nothin'. You're pretty decided on your opinion of them, aren't you?"

"What is this, 20 questions? If they didn't want me, that's their karma to deal with. No I've never met or seen my mother or my father, but hey, what goes around comes around. I've had a good life with Mia and Vince. How many teenage girls do you know who don't have a problem with getting their hands dirty?" I turned and walked over to the tool chest Vince had loaded at the last second.

"Your mother." I dropped the tool I'd just picked up on my foot and cursed loudly.

"Excuse me?" I turned around and looked him in the eyes. "What did you just say?"

"I didn't say anything." He laughed. He was getting nervous.

"Yes you did! You said, 'your mother'. You know something you don't want to tell me. Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He shifted his weight between his feet.

"Don't even try that. You know something; only question is _what_. Chances are, if you know—or knew—my mother; take your pick; you probably know my dad's name. If you've known Vincent as long as you claim, ya know what happens when you lie to his face. Now imagine doing that to an Italian-Latina." I put the hood of Vince's car down and left the guy to his thoughts. I got to the Del Amico cluster of trailers and saw the woman from Mia's trailer. I doubled back to my trailer for something only I would see the value in.


	4. Ch 3: Mother and Child Reunion

Chapter 3: Mother and Child Reunion

I left my trailer and went to find Mia. She was in her trailer with Whitney and Xander.

"Mia, can I have a word with you? In private?" We moved to the far end of the trailer.

"What's up?"

"I asked you once before who gave me these," I said, holding up a pair of dog tags on a chain and a silver crucifix on a different chain.

"I knew this day would come I just never dreamed it would be at _Race Wars_." She whispered.

"Mia, this can all go away if you just tell me what I need to know." She nodded and spoke.

"The tags belonged to your mom. She left them for you; I guess like an heirloom or something." She pursed her lips.

"Heirloom my ass." I grumbled. "What about the crucifix, Mia?" she was silent for a long moment before she replied.

"It's your dad's. Your mom left it with the tags; I don't know how she got it since he was wearing it the last time we saw him..." I stood up and left the trailer, making a bee-line for the woman in Mia's trailer that morning, dangling the tags in front of her face.

"Where did you get those?" she asked, standing up.

"Don't play stupid with me, okay? You know who I am as well as I know who you are, even if I seen my mom's face for years and never even realized it.

I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the base where the Races were being held. I spent that night holed up in my trailer with the acoustic guitar Vince gave me when Mia and Hector joined forces to honor my mom's family and celebrate my quinceanera. It was the most beautiful gift I'd ever been given.

I must have left the door unlocked as when I looked up from what I'd been writing, I saw my mother—my birth mother—leaning against the closed door.

"Are you going to stand there all night or did you _want_ something?" I asked, gently putting my guitar aside and turning back to the notebook I'd been messily writing in. "For what it's worth, I didn't know who you were; when I said what I did."

"That….would be my temper; not one of my finer points." She fell quiet again.

"I'm going to ask you something and I don't want you to take it the wrong way, alright?" she nodded and ventured forward as I moved notebooks and three different tuners—acoustic, electric/steel and bass—from the bed.

"I've seen you here for years; with Mia, Vince, nearly anyone old enough to know about you, my dad, and know about how old I should be; i guess what I'm trying to ask is why nobody ever said anything. I must have caught you staring at these tags a million times before; I just figured you were a military brat like I figured I was; I never imagine that they belonged to you."

"Mikaela, you were never supposed to stay with Mia and Vince for this long. You…had some complications when you were born. They discharged me but wanted to keep you for a few days.

The day Mia and I left the hospital was the day the cops started coming around looking for your dad and Leon. Vince gave a false name and was able to stay behind with Mia and you. It was never supposed to be 18 years before we were able to see you one-on-one."

"If you knew the whole time, why didn't you ever say anything? Are you the one Mia's been writing to all these years?"

"I never said anything because we were trying to protect you. The cops were already looking for Dom so as soon as I could drive, I hit the border…but that was about a month after you were born." And yes, I am the one Mia's been writing to."

I'm not sure when I fell asleep that night but when I woke up the next morning she was gone and I was alone. I brushed it off and left to get back to work on fixing Dad's car. I found Dominic waiting for me. I avoided making eye contact with him.

"Why didn't you come back with Leon?" I knew my tone was rude but I didn't care. "More importantly, why didn't you ever say anything? All this time you both knew who I was but nobody ever said anything!"

"We wanted to protect you; if Johnny knew Letty was pregnant and I wasn't around, you probably wouldn't be here now." His voice was low, like an electric bass, maybe even a cello; gravelly.

"Sometimes I hoped it was all just a bad dream, but that was before I knew better." I paused and put the wrench down. "Do me a favor: stay away from me. I have a family; I don't need one that abandoned me instead of handling their problems. You can finish fixing Dad's hunk of junk; I'm going back to LA where the air doesn't smell as bad." I shoved the wrench into his hand and drove away in my car.

I made it back to LA in record time—three hours and forty-five minutes. I went straight to the garage only to find that someone had already beaten me there.


	5. Ch 4: Couched for a Week

**Chapter Four:**

"Street Racing, highway robbery, stalking and now harassment; nice rap sheet," I said, sitting on the hood of my car.

"And here I was thinking it was _Dom_ that you hated." I screwed my eyes shut; trying to will away, the tears that threatened to fall, refusing to look at her.

"I'm going to go to a friend's house and I pray that you won't follow me," I got in my car and drove away.

I had known Shayla since pre-k and her mother was a saint. She had kept me—along with Shayla and her brothers, Nick and Charlie—for two weeks while my parents were on their honeymoon, so I felt like I could talk to her about almost anything.

When I got there, Mrs. Parker answered the door as I nearly lost control of myself.

"Kaela, what's up, honey? Your mom called a while ago and said that you had run off without saying anything."

"Lorraine, I feel like it's all falling apart as I'm about to be an adult on my own in the world." She pulled me into her arms as I cried for hours until I fell asleep in her arms on the couch. I woke up hours later and found that the whole Parker clan—except Mr. Parker, he'd been deployed for a yearlong tour in Iraq—was sitting in the den watching me. Shay walked in with the phone to her ear.

"Yes, Mrs. Del Amico, she's here, she's alright; there's no need for you guys to come back early. She'll be with us till whenever you all decide to come back. Take care, Mrs. D." Shay sat down on the chaise. "Nice heart attack you gave your mother."

"She's not my mom…my parents aren't even my real folks and I just found out, like 24 hours ago that my parents have been in Acapulco for the last eighteen years; not to mention at Race Wars every year, seeing me every day for a week at a time and I didn't even know about it!" I felt Shay's arms wrap around me.

"You gonna be alright to go to school tomorrow?" Lorraine asked softly. I shrugged.

"I don't know, but I think that I'll be better off at school, where I can let classes distract me from the drama." Shay took me upstairs and I slept fitfully through the night.

The next morning I walked into the Parker kitchen and found a small lavender book with my name embossed on the cover.

"What's this, Lorraine?" I stared at the book with mixed emotions—fear of what I'd find and anxiety over what I'd miss if I didn't open it.

"Ironically, Letty dropped that off about half an hour ago; said that even if you didn't want to talk to her again, you still deserved to have this." My grip on the back of the chair tightened as angry tears threatened to fall again. "Honey, I know you're hurting but I can't even begin to imagine the pain that your mother went through when she had to leave you here."

"Don't try to rationalise this, Lorraine. I'm not gong to listen. Tell Shay to get my school work; I'll do it later when I can actually think straight." She nodded as I disappeared out the back door with the book in my hands. I tossed it into the back seat as I started the engine and drove off.

After driving around LA for an hour and a half, I arrived at Redondo Beach. Four hours later, Vince joined me.

"How'd you find me?" I asked not bothering to look at him as he sat down in the sand beside me.

"You're a lot more like her than you'd like to believe. Whenever she'd get mad at someone—usually Dominic—she'd either go to Long Beach or here; to Redondo…she just wasn't as much of a drama queen about it." I snorted at his comment and his attempt to be funny.

"If this were a dramatic performance, I think I deserve that Oscar right about now, Dad."

"Your mom was drawn to Dom damn near from the second she met him. she was never able to say no to him; even when we all told him we shouldn't do the last heist." The only thing Vince was doing was making my so-called father look more and more like the jackass I already thought he was.

"She's not my mother, Daddy."

"And I'm _not_ your father, Kaela. Sure, Mia and I might have raised you but that _doesn't _make us your parents!"

"Oh, so them being absent from my life except for the week of Race Wars automatically gives them the right to tell me what to do, how to live my life, and everything else you and Mia have raised me to know better than? Forgive me if that doesn't exactly make a lot of sense." I felt like the world had turned upside down; I'd never really asked extensively about my folks; never really felt the need to go fishing for details. So why was it all coming to a head now? I felt a smirk playing at my lips as I stared out at the water.

"What you smilin' about, kid?" Vince asked as I struggled not to burst into laughter.

"You remember the summer you threw me into the ocean, and Mia was on the beach with Xander screaming that you were gonna kill me?"

"I slept on the couch for a week because of that." Vince laughed and I shrugged.

"Taught me to swim, though, didn't it?"

"And the _very_ next day you were wanting to learn to surf." Vince cringed at the memory of the wrath he'd incurred from Mia when I'd wanted to learn to surf.

"She threatened to leave you so hard you couldn't move for a month…"

"I swear it was like Letty was in the room yelling at me instead of Mia…it was weird hearing Mia say something like that…"

"That didnt stop you from getting one of Hector's people to teach me…"

"What Mia don't know ain't gonna kill her."

"I think the past few days are proof that what we don't know CAN hurt us."  
After brief negotiations, Vince concede to the Torettos not staying in the house, even if it had been in Dominic's name at one point and within the hour, we'd returned to the house. Mia stayed behind in the desert to handle a few things with my natural parents, sending Leon home with Xander and Whitney in tow.

I was working on taking this red VeilSide Leon had brought back years ago when he walked into the garage Vince now owned.


	6. Ch 5: Lullabies & Photographs

Chapter Five: Lullabies & Photographs

Home**2**

Chapter Five: Lullabies & Photographs

After brief negotiations, Vince conceded to the Torettos _not_ staying in the house—even if it had been in Dominic's name at one point—and within an hour we'd returned to the house. Mia'd stayed behind in the desert to sort things with the Torettos, but she'd sent leon back with Xander and Whitney in tow.

I was working on this red VeilSide leon had brought back ages ago when Leon walked into the garage—which Vince now owned.

"You aint gonna want to "You ain't gonna want to hear this but that's your—Dominic's car." He said from beside me.

"All the more reason to take it, strip it, and junk it." I said, unable to hide the bitter edge in my voice.

"Do you honestly want to have to strip and junk your car, too, Mickey?"

"Now why the hell would I do something that ridiculous, Leon?" asked, proceeding in stripping my father's car.

"That car was what Letty drove at Race Wars before…" I cut him off.

"Before what, Leon? Before I was dumped with my aunt and my so-called father's best friend after what, like four hours of labor?—so my alleged mother could join Dominic goddamn Toretto in Aca-fuckin'-pulco of all places!" I said standing up from the rear driver's side wheel. I didn't hear the sliding door open. But I damn sure heard _her_.

"Actually, it was twenty-seven hours of labor, young lady. And I _didn't _have a choice."

"Do not even try that shit with me, Letty. 'O woe is me, big bad johnny Tran's gonna try to kill me from six fucking feet under!'" they exchanged glances and leon held his hands up in neutrality.

"This is between you two, not me. Just try not to kill each other, aight?" I watched in stupor as he left the garage.

"You can talk till you're blue in the face but don't expect me to answer. Either way, I'm going over to hector's club at 5 to do inventory while he's still in Mojave." She left a few minutes later and was still gone when I left for hector's. I was auditing the books when she came into the club.

"Relax, Letty, I just work here, I don't drink the booze." She shrugged and stayed quiet, pulling an envelope from the leather backpack she carried.

"You deserve to see these," she said, placing the envelope on the counter. As she turned to leave, I lost control of my mouth.

"There's a, uh, lullaby…that I keep hearing in my head. I don't recognize it from anything I've learned on piano and it's not like anything Mia's ever used." The phone rang as I asked my question, and she was gone when I came back from answering it in the storeroom.

I pulled the envelope to me and untied the cord that held it shut. As I emptied the contents onto the bartop, I found that the photographs weren't its only contents.

I found the hospital bracelet from the NICU—with the same doctors' names, birth date, and parents' names; as well as the original copy of my birth certificate. Second, I found a lock of hair tied in a pink strand of yarn (like they do with newborns in hospitals).

I also found the photos—at least six months worth. In almost every shot, Letty held me in her arms. Towards the bottom of the stack, I found photos from Race Wars.

There was a gap in the timeline the photos gave of a year at most, six months at least, which I assumed was around the time that Letty finally left for Acapulco.

The last item in the envelope was a set of letters I could tell that mia had written. It seemed like she'd written a letter for every milestone from the night—I'd learned—that Letty had left for Acapulco: my first tooth; the day I started walking; every birthday; every time I became more and more like my mother than I knew was possible.

I put the contents back into the envelope, fighting back the tears I felt building up behind my eyes. I needed to get away from L.A. and could only think of one place—one group of people—I could go to and not be narc'd on to my family.

Home**2**


	7. Ch 6: Haole Girl? I think NOT!

Chapter Six: Haole Girl

Chapter Six: Haole Girl? I Think Not!

The next hours were a blur in terms of the finite details. I slept on and off throughout the twelve hour flight to Maui, trying to decide what lie I was gonna try to tell Eden and Lena to persuade them to let me stay in Maui.

The fact that I called Drew of all people was taking a huge risk in my "joyride" getting back to L..A.

"So Eden and Lena don't know you're here?" he asked, in disbelief that the seemingly sweet-and-innocent niece of Eden Masters would have the guts to pull that. "Pretty ballsy of you, girl."

"Where _is_ Eden, anyway?" I'd half expected her to come with him. Drew smirked but kept his eyes on the road.

"See, that's the difference between me and Kala. I can lie to Eden's face, no problem. But Kala gets all tongue-tied and busted in 10-seconds flat." Drew explained. As he drove, it dawned on me that we weren't headed anywhere near the Lanakai hotel.

"Where're we goin, Drew? Lanakai's the other way…"

"Ya chose a good day to go AWOL, kaela. With Anne-Marie on the pro circuit, eden does more board making than work at the hotel…" I laughed at the thought. Eden'd never liked that stupid hotel in the first place.

"What about Lena and Penny, man?" I was a year or two younger than Penny, but we shared the same sense of humor.

"Lena's same old Lena; anne-marie dragged Pen off to some community college on the big island, though. Threatened to send her to the mainland if she dropped out." He pulled the car to a stop and I realised he'd brought me to the beach. I saw JJ and Lena standing with Kala but there was no sign of Eden on the beach.

"How's it, Kala?"

"Your auntie done lost her mind, that's how its hangin'. Eden know you're here?"

"Not exactly…kinda unannounced." That's where my conversation with Kala ended.

"Hey Kala! Who's the haole?"

"What, you don't recognize your own _sobrina,_ Edie?" Eden cringed hearing Kala's personal pet name for her.

"Only Michaela I remember was eight years old and lived in California." Eden said, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"That was a long time ago and last time you saw me was last summer!" I hollered back.

Vince was shocked beyond words.

"What do you _mean, __"She's gone" _?!" Letty snarled, moving towards Vince.

"Not that it's any of your business, but we think she's in Hawaii. With Eden and Lena."

"How would she have the money to go to Maui?" Dom asked, standing beside Letty.

"She works at Hector's club and part time at the garage…" Mia answered, not looking up from the laundry she was folding. "I don't see why you two are so concerned. She probably left to sort through the mess you two have dragged her into…a mess YOU TWO should sort out for yourselves before you try to get to know your child."

"Mia, baby…" Vince groaned. He knew whatever Mia was about to say, Dom and Letty probably—no, definitely had it coming. They had for a while.

"He's my brother, Vince. At the very least I have the right to do this…if nothing else." Turning to Dom, she shook her head, sighed and laughed, all drowned in contempt. "Why they EVER worshipped you, I'll never understand. Youre nowhere near the man you think you are. You're a coward who couldn't see past his ego long enough to listen to your own sister when I begged you not to go on that last heist.

I almost wish he hadn't let you go…at least then my niece would know her family—her real family."

"I think you two should go now. I'm pretty sure Hector's got some place you two could stay." Vince said, gesturing towards the door. It pained him to turn out two people he'd known for so long, but it was something he'd had to do.

In Oahu

"So, how's the family?" Eden asked as we sat on the sand bar, watching the sunset.

"If you'd asked me that a few days ago, I'd have said we were fine." I said, "but now all I can think of to say is, 'what family?'."

"What's goin' on that you're not tellin' Auntie Eden?"

"You'd never believe me, but my folks—my real ones—came back last weekend. At race wars." Eden fell silent at this."

A/N: Nissan—next chapter, MAMA DRAMA. Actually, scratch that… FULL ON TORETTO DRAMA!


	8. Ch 7: Sister, Sister

Chapter Seven: Sister, Sister

I spent the next day surfing, clearing my mind. The sun was setting when Eden decided it was time to start grilling me again.

"Have you called your mom since you got here?" we were sitting over the sand bar.

"IF you're talkin' about Mia, no I haven't but I know I need to," I said, staring at the sunset. "I have no intention of calling Letty."

"She probably had good reason for handling things the way she did." I knew Eden was trying to reason with me but I really didn't want to hear it.

"It's not about the way she handled it, Eden! That has nothing to do with it!" I was almost shouting at her, but it wasn't helping to calm me down. "Look, for all I know, I could have brothers and sisters I've never known about and who don't even know I exist!"

Dom and Letty wound up crashing at a hotel near hector's place.

"I can't believe it!" Letty groaned, flinging herself on to the bed. "My own sister and she didn't even call me!"

"Can you really blame her? When was the last time you talked to Eden, anyway?" Dom asked, picking Letty's boot-clad feet up and unlacing them. "At least I kept mia informed over the years."

"Whose side are you on, here, Dom?! Your sister just threw you out of YOUR house, man!"

"It's her family's house now, Letty. For all I know Vince probably owns the garage, now, too." Dom said, grabbing Letty's remaining boot-clad foot as it made a run for his groin.

"So what the fuck are we suppose to do now, Dom? Sit around twiddling our thumbs while we rot away?!"

"I didn't say that, Letty."

"Well you haven't said SHIT since this whole goddamn mess started!" Letty was on her feet now, jabbing an angry finger at Dom's chest.

"Because we can't just drop in outta nowhere one day like the past never happened!"

"Gimme your wallet."

"What?"

"Give me your goddamn wallet!"

"What?! You go from fighting about the house to gettin' laid faster than any nitrous system on earth."

"You're not getting laid, asshole." Letty snapped at him. "I'm going to Oahu to get my kid back."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Dom was persistent in his 'this is a bad idea' mantra the entire way to the airport. Letty took the only open seat—or so she thought—on the next flight to Oahu. He'd actually managed to get a seat in a lower class. The shit hit the fan when Dom arrived about an hour and a half after Letty did at the Chadwick clan's beach house. He found her practically doing it on top of some surf bum's car.

"Fuck you, Letty!"

"Uh…no thanks dom, he can handle that particular activity!" Letty called back, mockingly.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Dom couldn't believe his ears.

"Did I stutter?" Letty called back.

"If you wanted another guy, why the HELL did you stick around the last twenty years?!"

"Stupidity, obviously!"

"Better question is, why the hell did you come to mexico, back to ME?!"

"Because they would have come after me as well, or at least that's what you convinced me of...'they'll take her away from you letty, have her in foster care, let Mia take care of her', you told me," Letty snapped at him, "All the while PROMISING me we'd come back for her."

"And do you remember what Vince told us in the desert?" Dom roared, "they DID come lookin' for us, AGAIN! they've BEEN looking for us, for YEARS! hell, the last guy to come lookin' made the connection between Michaela and us. What would you have done if we'd stayed and they found us; if they took her from you after all that?"

"I left her for you!" Letty's voice nearly broke as she spoke. "Do you know how much that hurt, how much i regretted it every single day, every time Mia wrote and sent pictures? She's my child Dominic. And i gave her up."

"Don't you dare try to put this on me, Leticia! I gave you a CHOICE. I told you not to come to mexico if you couldn't leave her behind. I GAVE you a choice and you came to mexico any-fucking-way."

"You tried to pin it on me…" Letty said, "trying to keep you made me feel like shit. You told me I was bad for her, that if I stayed it would be worse for her. That I needed to be with you, and I believed you."

"If its your fault she left me, what the fuckin' hell are you doin' here, man?" Michaela said, startling both of them. Letty wiped furiously at her eyes.

"What did you hear?" she asked.

"Everything, pretty much. But I get it now," Kaela said simply. "Why you gave me the stuff in the bag. 's not you I have a problem with. Right now, it's him." She turned to Dom. "You need to leave before you're sent back to the mainland by force. He shook his head.

"I need to talk to my wife." he said, confidently, "you might wanna leave the room, Mickey…this is between me and Letty."

"I got just as much right to hear this as anyone else, Dominic. I deserve to know why my life's been as screwed up as it has the last 18 years."

"Screwed up? Screwed up?!" Dom roared at his child. "You have a house, a family. what's so hard about that? as much as i love you, because believe it or not i am your father and i love you...you will not talk to me like that. you have no clue what went down. You need…"

"Dominic!"

"Lemme tell ya, I've grown up with my aunt and YOUR ex-best friend as my parents, meanwhile I was wondering WHERE THE HELL YOU TWO WERE and what the FUCKING HELL I'd done to deserve bein' left behind like I didn't matter."

"Michaela. Stop. Just stop." Letty said, standing between her daughter and former lover.

"Ma, I think I deserve this ONE answer."

"You didn't do anything." Dom said, morosely.

"Then WHAT THE FUCK is with the way I've been growin' up," Michaela snorted, eyeing Dom disgustedly. "DAD?"

"Don't you understand?!" Dom snarled. "We couldn't take you, we ran the risk of being caught. Do you have any idea what's it's been like? What would have happened to you?"

"At least THEN i would have known who my parents were," Michaela bit back. "Who the hell I was supposed to be."

"Supposed to be?" Dom repeated. "What do you think you were supposed to be?"

"I dunno; seems EVERYONE has a different idea of what the daughter of the King of the Streets of LA was supposed to be..." she quipped. "And all I can say for my parentage is thank god I'm not a coward like my father, not to mention wondering what the hell my mom ever saw in him."

"STOP! Both of you just shut the FUCK UP!" Letty shouted.

"NO!" Dom snarled. "I did what was best for you. I couldn't run that risk!"

"Oh, what, you wanna play daddy NOW?" Michaela snorted. "Vince is a better father than you could ever DREAM of being!"

"Guess what sweetheart?" Dom roared. "I'm not here to run your life, it's not my place. Frankly I don't know what to do about this fucking situation."

"GOOD! Then you won't mind takin' your lousy ass back to Aca-motherfuckin'-pulco and STAYING THERE!"

"Not without her!" Dom said, taking a strong hold of Letty's wrist, "Leticia we need to talk, alone."

"Oh, what, the last twenty years turn you into a wifebeater, too, old man?" Kaela ragged on him. "Get your fuckin hands off her, she dont gotta go NOWHERE with you."

"STOP! Just fucking calm down!"

"What, you're defendin' him now?"

"I don't think there's anything we need to talk about, Dominic," Letty said, placing her hand on his, "let me go." He's speechless after his first legitimate encounter with his daughter.

"What are you doin', Leticia?" his hold loosens significantly on her arm.

"Just let me go…I can't breathe, dammit." She whispered. "Just stop…"

"I'm gonna get a plane ticket; go home...do...somethin'," Dom said.

"Just calm down," Letty nodded. "I can't talk to you when you're like this…"

"Never had a problem before…" he said under his breath. Dom turned away, shoving his hands in his pockets. She grabbed his hand.

"I can't pretend I'm alright, Dominic." She said, "I don't know what to do any more, I was used to _pretending_ that I was ok…that we were ok…everything you did...I, well I just followed."

"We were never really okay, were we, Let?" Dom whispered. She shook her head, looking down sadly.

"I loved you too much. Even when I should have stopped and tried to fix things…I just let you lead."

"So, what do we do, hm?" His expression matched the sad look in her eyes. She sniffed slightly and he turned to see a tear roll down her cheek.

"I wish you could tell me that."

"It was never a question of whether or not I loved you, Letty. I love you, I've hated you and I know I can't live without you in my life. But we cant keep this shit up. It's going to destroy both of us."

"I know. I don't want to look at you and not know who you are anymore. I don't want you to hurt, but I don't know what to do…How to fix things."

"Seems we're both lost on this..."

"All we have to _do_ is love each other." Letty said, feeling her will beginning to break. "And we don't even know how to do that any more."

"The time apart should be good for us." Dom said. All Letty could do in response was smile sadly and nod.

"I love you, Letty. Remember that." He whispered, kissing her cheek. Instinctively, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"Be happy," she murmured against him.

"I don't know how…" he said, wiping the tears from her face with his thumbs. "But I'll try." She kissed the side of his mouth before speaking.

"You'll find your way. If you need to talk, you know where I am." She said softly.

"I'm…gonna go…" Dominic said, awkwardness beginning to fill the air between the two.

"Don't be a stranger, huh?" she said, gently pushing him away. He kissed her lips softly before turning and walking away.

"I'm dying already," she whispered, biting her lip, the sensation that her heart might burst filling her.


	9. Ch 8: Answers

Chapter Eight:

"You're gonna be fine, Let… you got our kid to distract you!" Dominic turned back, calling over his shoulder, "See you when I see you, I guess…"

She turned and walked back inside, calling out to the child she barely knew.

"Mickey? Where are you?"

"Kitchen."

"What're you doin', kid?" she asked, suddenly at a loss for words to say to the child who felt she'd abandoned her. Letty suddenly understood the sentiment.

"Tryin' to wrap my brain around how...reversed my reaction to actually interacting with my father was from what i thought. I mean, I'd heard about the way you and him fought, but...god, that was weird," Michaela said, shuddering.

"That actually went pretty well, considering," Letty snorted. "Well, 'm not leaving with him. That was nothing."

"So I've heard." Kaela said, "I guess I'm a little more like you than I gave myself credit for, huh?"

"I wouldn't know, actually," Letty laughed, "But I'd like to."

"God, Eden's gonna flip when she finds you here." Kaela said, almost giddy.

"Where _is_ the bitch, anyway?" Letty asked.

"Surfing, probably." Kaela said automatically. "If not, foolin' around with Kala; other wise, I dont know."

"I've missed her," Letty laughed.

"I didnt believe Mia when she said she an' Eden were my aunts. I mean, I knew Mia was; but Eden, I figured she'd be closer, blood wise." Letty looked away awkwardly.

"What's with the look, Ma?"

"Might as well spill it," Letty sighed. "She's my sister."

"I kinda already knew that…I mean, Mia's my dad's sister, and Eden wasn't related to them so, not like it was that hard to figure out."

"Smarter than you look…" Letty said, smiling at her daughter.

"HEY!" I exclaimed in mock offense, "I might not be Mia's idea of an honors student, but I deserve a bit more credit than that!" I laughed.

"I'm kidding!" Letty laughed, "you wanna go down to the beach? Feel like going for a swim…here you can surf, pretty sure Mia wouldn't approve."

"Who told you about that?"

"Vince…kinda let it slip…but we were just talking," Letty explained. "Come on, lets change into our swimsuits."

"Later! I've already got my shit." I took the sink faucet hose and sprays letty slightly before running out the door and towards the beach.

"Hey! Motherfucker!" Letty tried to be mad but found herself laughing despite herself. "Wait for me!"

"…and people WONDER where i get my mouth from!" I said, grabbing my surfboard as I took off towards the beach. Letty went to change and caught up with me about 5-10 minutes later. She found me stretching.

"Hey, you didn't wait. Where's Eden?" she asked, "She here yet?"

"Out there somewhere," I said, gesturing towards the water. "She damn near lives out here now…"

"Where'd Justin go?" She asked, referring to the beach bum my father had scared off earlier.

"Your bodyguard probably scared him off. You surf?" Letty shook her head slowly.

"Yeah, most likely," she said, "I used to a little, haven't in a while now." As she spoke, Eden surged out of the water and onto the beach.

"Nice of you to finally join me, Kaela." She said, wringing her hair out. "Who's your haole?"

"Hey dumbass, not gonna hug your sister after not seeing her for like 15 years?" she said in mock hurt, "I'm deeply hurt Eden."

"What the hell are you doin' here, Letty?" Eden asked, clearly not happy to see her sister. "Here to cause more _Neoneo_ for the half haole?"

"No," Letty answered, hurt. "And Dominic _isn't _white! He's Italian and Cuban."

"Good." Eden rang her hair out one last time. "'cause it seems like you and that _lolo kolohe (stupid rat) _of a boyfriend of yours have caused enough of it to last a lifetime. I always told you he'd cause trouble for you."

"Can we not start this shit now, Sis?" Letty asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Alright, why you here, then?"

"I came to see Kaela." She answered, "And I was _hoping_ to have a nice time here with my sister."

"_Kaikuahine (Sisters)_? more like _Malihini (strangers)_ for all the time's passed since I last heard from you. Hell, I heard from MIA that you'd had a kid. But I have to say, you've got one hell of a kid, here, Letty. Whose idea was it to name her for our brother?"

"See? You keep your beefs." Letty said, rolling her eyes and turning to walk away. "Mickey...I'll be down at the hotel if you need me. I'll come over tomorrow."

"The hell did you do that for?" I asked, turning on Eden.

"Oh shut up. She needed it, not like she's going to get off that easy."

"She's my MOTHER, Eden! Regardless of what I might think or what you might think I deserve to be able to know Her!"

"Fine, she just better not fuck up again."

"It wasn't her fault for leavin' me. Toretto made her do it."

"She chose HIM over you, kid!"

"I'm not having this argument with you."

"I just don't want you to get hurt is all. I love her she's my sister, but that dosen't change what's happened. Come on man, I'm just being honest.

"I'm goin' to the Lanakai, see if I can catch her."

"Can I ask you somethin'?" I'd found her sitting on the stone wall outside the hotel doors, as if she was waiting for me.

"Shoot." We were in her hotel room now.

"All those years at race wars, you never said anything...if I was in your shoes, I'd have taken my kid back in a heartbeat...or at least tried to get to know her."

"You have no idea how…how hard it was to see you. And not be able to hug you, talk to you, tell you…" Letty said, creasing her brow.

"And _you_ have no idea how hard it was to listen to kids talk about their parents and have my aunt and uncle to talk about." I replied almost immediately. "Don't get me wrong, they've been great, but having my parents around would've been nice."

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry, you have no idea…" Letty whispered. "It'll never be enough, I know. But I am. And so is your dad."

"Yeah, sure." I scoffed. "The guy's about as sorry as he is soft." Letty sat down beside me, tears in her eyes.

"Look at me." She held my face in her hands. "Mija, please, look at me. He _is_, deep down, Dominic _is _sorry."

"Why'd you stay so long if you knew you were going to leave anyway?" I asked, feeling the resentment building within me. "What about O'hana? O'hana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten." I said.

"I know…oh god…it…I," she sobbed, rubbing her hair away from her face. "after, you were born you were so tiny, so pretty. I couldn't think about leaving, not to mention actually doing it."

"So why did you?" I asked softly. "Why did you choose a man who nearly got you killed over your child?"

"I was scared of them taking you away." She answered simply. "Dominic kept saying they would come, never stop looking." She sniffed. "He would tell me I could stay, that I had a choice. But I was scared. He begged me one night. To leave; kept saying he would make it better."

"Somehow, I don't believe that." I said, firmly. "Mia always said you were fearless."

"I had never been more scared in my life."

"Then why not take me WITH you?" I asked, becoming frustrated.

"I was scared to run that risk…I thought things would calm down. That I would be able to come back…"

"But you didn't." I said quietly. "I eventually just figured you were dead or somethin'. I was just glad i wasn't in foster care or somethin'."

"I knew you would be happy with Mia and Vince. That dosen't make things right." She said, her head dropping to her hands. "I want you to know that I thought about you constantly…hard not too when most of the fights we had were about you."

"Of all the things you could have left with me, why the dog tags and the crucifix?"

"The dog tags were my dad's. I always wore them. The crucifix was Tony's, Dominic's father. He gave it to me once…but I couldn't accept it. He gave it to me before he left, he told me to shut up when I was saying no…said that if I wouldn't accept marriage that I might as well accept the crucifix…" she rambled, "I left them with you…it felt right."

"All the letters; there were hundreds; but never a response. Why not?"

"I never knew what to say, like I couldn't put it on paper."


	10. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Dear Readers:

To all who have read this story since its initial posting, thank you! However, due to personal reasons and circumstances beyond my control, I am removing this story from the site and will be starting from scratch.

~*Diesel Fire*~


End file.
